The review meeting of the project – Kerala Interstate Migrants Alliance for Transformation (KISMAT) was held at Kristu Jyothy Animation centre, Kottiyam on 21 & 22 November 2020. The meeting was participated by the Coordinators from 11 Migrant Help Desks (MHD), the State Coordinator and the State Director.
The meeting commenced by seeking the divine presence with a prayer. Ms. Sandhya- the State Coordinator, then gave an introduction of the purpose of the meeting and briefly narrated the successful journey of the project over the last two years and especially the interventions and impacts among the migrants during the Covid crisis. It was followed by a welcome note by Fr. Tony Varghese- State Director, KISMAT. The other dignitaries namely, Fr. Bobby Kannezhathu- Rector and Manager, DB College, Kottiyam, Fr. Saji Elamblasseril- Director DB Veedu, Trivandrum, Mr. Sreenath- ALO Kundara Kollam and Mr. Anil- ALO Chadayamangalam were present during the inaugural ceremony. Mr. Alan- Kollam MHD coordinator, introduced the Assistant Labour Officers and shared his work experience with them during the covid days. Mr. Manoj Kumar- District Labour Officer shared a message with the KISMAT team in his absence. Fr. Bobby, during his keynote address, appreciated the works of the team and he also titled them as the unsung heroes. Mr. Anilkumar and Mr. Sreenath said that the government and the NGOs should pass a positive message to the public about the role of guest workers in Kerala and need to introduce more social integration programmes to reduce the prejudice among the natives in the state about the interstate migrants. He mentioned the opportunity for KISMAT and the Labour department to collaborately work to do more welfare programmes in the district of Kerala.He also informed the government plan to reopen the AAWAZ registration camps to avail the insurance coverage for all the newly migrated guest workers in Kerala state.
The later sessions were taken over by the district MHDs to present their quarterly activities and to evaluate the progress of each MHD. In the afternoon, a session by Adv. Arun Shibu- BA, LLB, LLM was conducted on labour laws. Post tea, the team visited the Sarvathrika Sahodarya Samithi Abhayakendram- an NGO at Mayyanad to discuss about the migrant children and their education system in Kollam district. The second day was followed by the presentations of the MHDs. Mr. Carlton Fernandez- Psychologist, Secretary to the migrant commission Kollam took a skill training session where he mentioned the history of migration and the current scenario in the state of Kerala. The discussions cleared the queries of the Coordinators to deal effectively with the migrant issues in future. Mr. Manoj Kumar- DLO quickly marked his presence and delivered a message and his appreciation for the KISMAT team. Post lunch on the second day, Sr. Asha – Prathyasa shared her 20 years work experience with the migrant community in Kollam and Kottayam districts. She also shared the approach towards the migrant population. The two days’ review meeting waas concluded with the team discussion and setting the action plan for the next qquarter.
